Toni Minichiello admits he gained perspective during his time away from British Athletics as he now rejoins the governing body as an athlete based support coach.
Minichiello, who famously coaches Olympic heptathlon champion from London 2012 Jessica Ennis-Hill, is back with British Athletics after exploring a number of other options.
He will now focus on his coaching role under the World Class Performance Programme but will remain supported at his and Ennis-Hill’s base in Sheffield.
And Minichiello admitted his period away from the British Athletics set up made him realise that track and field is where his true passion lies.
“In the year since leaving British Athletics I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to work with a number of other sports governing bodies and businesses as well as working with Jessica,” he said.
“This has provided some fantastic experiences and learning opportunities, to the extent that I will continue with these activities.
“That said I’ve come to realise that my defining passion lies with athletics and my personal drive to be the best athletics coach I can be.
“I was pleased to be offered the opportunity to rejoin the British Athletics performance team; it offers the perfect opportunity for me to fulfil this ambition with like minded colleagues while putting back into the sport.”
And performance director Neil Black believes everyone involved, Ennis-Hill, British Athletics and Minichiello himself, will be better for the move.
“I am delighted Toni has reconsidered and will now join our team as one of our consultant coaches. Our job is to ensure that Jessica Ennis-Hill gets everything she needs to continue to be the best in the world,” said Black.
“Toni is absolutely central to that and the whole system works better for him, for Jessica and for British Athletics when we are all part of the same team.
“It is vital that British Athletics invests in its top coaching talent like Toni, helping them move from one generation of athletes to the next, from a single event, single athlete focus to multiple athlete and event focus, adding value across the whole elite programme.”
© Sportsbeat 2013